There’s this undercurrent that’s been bothering me during my otherwise fabulous visit here. It took me a while to pin it down. On previous visits, the whole affair had a roll-your-own, built yourself, held-together-with-duct-tape feel that made the whole adventure seem more heroic. But this time it’s different. Instead of the barely fuctional self-maintained $700 Metro, i have a $14k Mercedes Van i can’t hope to ever really maintain myself. Instead of my made-from-scratch yurt, i’m living in the wonderful-but-off-the-shelf Soul Pad. And instead of a borrowed bike, i’m cruising around on and having to protect my $2500 Bromprom. Instead of cooking most of my own meals from day one, i’ve eaten out almost exclusively for almost half the trip. In short, i’m *paying* for things instead of building them myself. And not only does it feel like a less fulfilling life, i also feel *very* conspicuously richer than those around me. And a huge thrust of my life, in fact, my mission and chosen career, is showing peope how to be happy with less by doing more things themselves. And at the moment, i feel like i’ve backslid quite a bit.

I won’t even *talk* about all the Apple technology i’m dreaming about..,